THE builders who own the derelict dog track have said they will improve security - after The Hinckley Times told them what was going on.

THE builders who own the derelict dog track have said they will improve security - after The Hinckley Times told them what was going on.

As soon as we called them they had experts on the site, looking to tighten the perimeter.

Recently metal fencing had simply been pushed over, meaning most able-bodied people could easily access the site.

But Crest Nicholson, who confirmed they owned the site, say that any measures would be short term, because they plan to reinvigorate the site later this year.

A spokesman for the firm confirmed that a planning application would be submitted at some point over the next few weeks.

And any application will be assisted by the fact that a large swathe of land, containing the greyhound track, has been set aside for residential development in a council document assessing potential residential sites in the borough.

The story was totally different in 2006, when planning bosses dismissed two applications to build homes on Nutts Lane - one to build 89 homes on the site of the old greyhound track, and 117 homes nearby.

Both developers appealed, but one was turned down and another withdrawn.

Describing the plans as “unacceptable”, planning inspector John Head, said: “The site is outside the defined settlement boundary of Hinckley, in an area where policy restricts development to that with an essential rural justification.

“In addition to the general presumption against development in the countryside, I have concluded that the development of the land for housing would harm the character and appearance of the surrounding area and the setting of the Ashby Canal conservation area.”

Mary Anderson, from Crest Nicholson, said: “There is a planning application due to be submitted in June or July.

“We have had people down there in the last few days looking at increasing security and they are putting proposals together, with a view to preventing unauthorised access.”